Google+ Followers

Monday, April 6, 2015

More than 120 blue balloons with lights inside were placed on the property of
the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center in Clinton Township to highlight the Eighth
Worldwide Autism Awareness Day.

By JERRY WOLFFE

Blue lights shone into the night sky as “Light It Up Blue” was
celebrated worldwide, including at MORC in Clinton Township, to increase
awareness of autism, a developmental disability affecting more children every
year.

At the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center along 19 Mile Road between
Hayes and Garfield there were 120 large balloons with lights inside on the lawn
Thursday night to garner the attention of passersby to mark the Eighth Annual
Worldwide Autism Awareness Day. April is also autism awareness month.

Project Director Patricia Sims Sunisloe and several other workers at the
Macomb-Oakland Regional Center set up the balloons in windy and rainy conditions
to catch the attention of the public.

The MORC cafeteria in Clinton
Township served chilled blueberry soup and gave workers and visitors Blue Moon
ice cream until the supply was exhausted. At the nonprofit’s Auburn Hills office
blue candy was given to help people realize the impact autism is having on
America as well as the world.

There are 3.5 million people in the United
States and 70 million worldwide who have autism, a term for a group of complex
disorders of brain development. The disorder is characterized by difficulties in
social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication and repetitive behavior,
according to the nonprofit Autism Speaks.

The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention reports 1 in 68 children being born today have autism.
The number for newborn boys is higher with the rate being being 1 in 42 births.
It costs about $60,000 a year to provide treatment for each child with autism,
the Website Autism Speaks noted.

“We put up all the blue balloons to try
and increase awareness and support those with the lifelong disability,” said
Sims Sunisloe. MORC has two autism treatment center, one in Clinton Township and
the other in Troy. “Therefore I felt we had an obligation to join with people
around the world to ‘Light It Up Blue,’” said Sims Sunisloe.

Since 2000,
the number of children born with autism has increased 119.4 percent, or more
than double, according to the CDC. Costs of treatment in the United States are
estimated at between $236 billion to $262 billion a year.

“Given the
rise in the increase of autism, it is important for the public to be welcoming
and accepting of those with differing abilities, including autism, and to have
some knowledge of autism,” said Diane Lindsay, the Director of Select and
Clinical Supports at MORC, which serves 4,300 people with disabilities in
southeastern Michigan.

“It’s good to increase awareness,” said Julia
Whitcher, the Supports Intensity Scale Assessment Coordinator at MORC. The SIS
is a tool to evaluate the type of supports an individual with a disability needs
to live to his or her optimum level.

“If more people knew about autism,
they’d contribute more toward research and better support for the families who
have children with the disorder.”

One of the treatments for those with
autism is Applied Behavioral Analysis, said Maddie Wedyke, an ABA technician who
works at the Clinton Township Autism Center.

Last April, the federal
government decided to pay for treatment for children from newborns to age 6. It
is hoped the program will be expanded to those who are older than six.

“We try to reduce behaviors and prepare the children we are working with
for school so they can be mainstreamed into regular classrooms,” said Wedyke.
“We currently have 17 children receiving treatment at the Clinton center which
has been open for two years.

“I’ve seen improvement in some of the
children we’ve helped.

“We work on daily living skills such as brushing
teeth, zipping up jackets and teaching the children to feed themselves.”

Jerry Wolffe is the writer-in-residence and advocate-at-large at MORC.
He can be reached at 586 263 8950.